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| A worker walks in the office of Kakao's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in this 2014 file photo. Korea Times file |
By Kim Jae-heun
Kakao Group is considering acquiring a 100 percent stake in Milk Partners, which runs the crypto asset platform MiL.K, local investment banking industry sources said, Monday.
They said that Kakao, operator of the country's dominant messaging platform KakaoTalk, is set to spend at least 100 billion won to acquire the virtual asset platform operator.
Kakao said it was merely studying the option. But one industry source said, "Kakao has been reviewing either collaborating with or taking over firms that are related to its virtual asset business."
The sources said Milk Partners received offers for business collaborations from several unnamed companies in Korea and added that they cannot rule out the possibility of Kakao acquiring a stake in the virtual asset platform operator, amid accelerated moves by top tech companies to deepen collaboration with crypto businesses. MiL.K is a blockchain-based point integrated platform, founded by Milk Partners CEO Cho Jung-min.
On a related note, Kakao's blockchain development company, Ground X, made several strategic investments recently in Key Inside, the parent company of Milk Partners. Kakao is expected to use MiL.K to expand the practical use of its own blockchain, Klay.
Actually, Kakao and Milk Partners were involved in various discussions to develop ties, and the CEO himself had previously worked for Kakao Pay, the mobile payment and digital wallet service of Kakao.
Recently, Kakao became the largest shareholder of Humanscape by purchasing a 20 percent stake. Humanscape is an operator of a blockchain-based data platform called Rare Note, which offers digital healthcare services.
